Category Archives: Hotel Hankers

It feels so long since I’ve been warm that I’m hankering back to the last time I was, which was in Rome.

We went for our good friends’ wedding in the beautiful Italian hills about 45 minutes drive from Rome. After we had eaten, drunk and danced til we collapsed we spent a couple of days in Rome recovering at the Mario de’ Fiori 37 hotel.

This hotel is really special and is a fantastic place to hole up whilst in the city. You’ll find most of the designer shops around the corner on Via Condotti. A couple of minutes walk away are the Spanish steps and it was an easy walk from there to the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum was a bit more of a trek but we took in some ruins on the way and had a gelato or two. You know, when in Rome…

The hotel itself is in a 17th century building which has been luxuriously modernised and has just seven rooms so it has a calm and personal feel to it. Members of staff are on site between 7am-10.30pm and you are given a front door key with your room key so you can get in outside of those times (although there is a night porter if needed). It feels more like you’re renting a luxury apartment than staying in a hotel.

There is no restaurant or bar, the hotel literally is seven rooms and the reception. But because of its location you are spoilt for choice in terms of food and drink nearby, so this doesn’t matter in the slightest and you can pre-order breakfast to your room in the mornings. The lady on reception was so helpful in recommending some nice restaurants and even drew us a map so we didn’t get lost.

The rooms are a beautiful mix of modern and traditional, most with original ceiling beams that have been painted white. Below is the Double Deluxe room we stayed in which has a king-sized canopied bed opposite a flat-screen TV with movie channels in a choice of languages, free WiFi and much to my husband’s delight, a Nespresso machine.

There are two bathroom areas, one with a toilet and bidet opposite a mirrored wall and the other with a sink and impressive marble shower complete with seat if your legs are a bit tired from all that walking.

My only complaint is the bathroom doors. They are glass and have a sort of frosted hatching effect for privacy which works if you don’t have the light on, but if you switch them on your bathroom behaviour becomes visible to whoever is in the bedroom. Now I don’t mind my husband seeing me clean my teeth or have a shower, but I’m not so comfortable with him seeing me use the loo or the bidet, especially with a massive mirror reflecting the image so it’s visible from the bed. So either the bathroom light was off or we were shouting “Don’t look!” at each other as we went about our bathroom business. If we had come here in our courting days I think I’d have been mortified, but we probably came away closer because of it.

Please don’t let the bathroom doors put you off staying here. The Mario de’ Fiori 37 is a stunning place to stay, with staff that would bend over backwards to help you and an ideal location. Prices start at €130. But if you book via Mr & Mrs Smith there’s a special early booking rate and if you’re a Mr & Mrs Smith member just flash your card and you’ll get a free bottle of Prosecco and tickets to a museum. I of course forgot to pack mine.